A version of this article first appeared online on Condé Nast Traveller UK, and originally appeared in the July/August 2023 issue of Condé Nast Traveller UK.
The gilded young are pouring into Málaga. Since the pandemic, they have been flocking to the city in droves, for the year-round sunshine, the affordable rents, and the abundant food. They are onto the skewers of sardines grilled over glowing olive wood in the former fishing village of Pedregalejo; the dark Pajarete wine at the Antigua Casa de Guardia, where old-school barmen jubilantly ring a bell when they’re tipped; and the 30-plus museums, from the Museo de Málaga to the pop-up Pompidou.
For this incoming group, life is sweet: a daily sun-filled round of e-biking through graffitied Lagunillas to the Gibralfaro, jasmine-scented massages at the Hammam al Andalus, sunset G&Ts at the Baños del Carmen, and enough exhibitions to fill a hundred weekends. Fifty years after Picasso’s death, the cultural scene in his native city is as splendid as the sun that bathes the mountains in gold at dawn and dusk—and the imagination with them.
It wasn’t ever thus. Málaga has a long history that dates back to the eighth century BC—the Phoenicians were followed by the Romans, the Moors, and the Catholics—and its fortunes have ebbed and flowed with the tides. The result is a city of, at times, dramatic contrasts, which can all be seen from the glorious Castillo de Gibralfaro. The medieval ramparts ripple over the hill like the tail of a mighty dragon, and the panorama swings around from the sparkling sea and port to the sunbaked city and mountains. A walled walkway zigzags down through fragrant pines to the Alcazaba—the Gibralfaro’s sister fortress—and the Roman amphitheatre. The gargantuan cathedral, home to Enrique Simonet’s hauntingly luminous The Beheading of Saint Paul, towers up against a backdrop of high-rises. It’s all there: more than 1,000 years in a glance.
Early tourists were keenly aware of these contrasts. In the mid-19th century, as British travel writer Louisa Tenison sailed into Málaga and the sun rose out of the waters, she found herself imagining the four-month siege of 1487, when the Catholic monarchs expelled the Nasrids. In her book Castile and Andalucía, she conjured a vivid picture of the momentous clash of civilizations: the “ensign of the cross floating over the tent of Ferdinand and Isabella,” and the “sacred banner” of the Arabs “waving from the heights of the Gibralfaro.” But her romantic reverie was soon interrupted by a more prosaic sight, “more befitting the neighborhood of Liverpool or Glasgow”—the chimneys of the city’s iron works.
The two decisive chapters in the port city’s history—its Reconquista from the Emirate of Granada and its leading role in Spain’s industrial revolution—are much in evidence today, not least at the Mercado de Atarazanas. From 1876 to 1879, the former Arabic shipyard was rebuilt with iron from the factories, and the seafront was redesigned to make way for the elegant Parque de Málaga. This modern chapter coincides roughly with that of Málaga’s most famous son, Pablo Picasso, who was born in the city in 1881. His first 10 years were spent in the same block on the Plaza de la Merced and, as well as showing his art, the Museo Casa Natal Picasso—the museum modeled around his childhood home—offers an insight into middle-class life at the time. Picasso left Málaga when he was 10, first for La Coruña, then Barcelona, but he returned five times, and from his self-imposed exile in France, he remembered his native city with affection, embellishing anecdotes and recalling tastes, smells, and songs.
In the late 19th century, Málaga’s fortunes changed, as an outbreak of phylloxera destroyed the region’s vines, and then the economic crisis and war took their toll. By the time of Picasso’s death in 1973, the excesses of package tourism were beginning to blight the coastline, and, as the century drew to a close, parts of the city were scruffy and dangerous. At the dawn of the new millennium, however, the mayor, Francisco de la Torre, took steps to reverse the decline. The center was pedestrianized, allowing children to run free again. The CAC, a new hub for contemporary art, was a shot in the arm for the neighbourhood of Ensanche Heredia, midway between the Guadalmedina riverbed and the port. In October 2003, the Museo Picasso Málaga opened in the Palacio de Buenavista, a Renaissance palace that had previously housed the province’s fine arts collection. Málaga was recast as a city of art, with Picasso as the catalyst. And the rest is history.
Where to stay in Malaga
Palacio Solecio
This 18th-century palace was built for a Genoese merchant, who exported Macharaviaya playing cards to America, and sat abandoned for many years before its meticulous renovation in 2019, overseen by Antonio Obrador (Mallorca’s Cap Rocat and Son Net). Now Moorish touches abound, from the patterned headboards in the 68 rooms to the splendid internal courtyard with its porticoed patio, chequered floor, and esparto grass blinds. The grand arches lead to José Carlos García’s Balausta restaurant, where seven-course feasts might include spider-crab croquettes or cod with pintarroja stew.
La Zambra
Halfway between Málaga and Marbella’s Golden Mile, and named after a freewheeling flamenco dance, this is one of the newest creations from the Marugal hotel group. Its former incarnation, Byblos in Mijas, was a ’90s icon with a celebrity following that included Princess Diana and Julio Iglesias, but La Zambra, which opened last summer, is less showy. Mallorcan architecture firm Esteva i Esteva has pared back the original Moorish design to create a minimalist sanctuary of peace and privacy, with faint echoes of earthy early Tulum in neutral rooms and one of the biggest spas in Andalucía, all white and aquamarine. The four restaurants are overseen by chef Iker González Ayerbe, who brings his Basque background to the best Mediterranean ingredients.
The best restaurants in Málaga
Mercado Central de Atarazanas
Málaga’s central market was a shipyard in the 14th century, and this late-19th-century building in wrought iron and stained glass still has its original Nasrid arch. The variety of produce—custard apples from the Costa Tropical, pata negra ham from Ronda, strawberries from the Guadalhorce Valley—is equally fascinating, and Spain Food Sherpas runs excellent tapas tours. Ours started with market classics pescaíto frito (fried fish) and boquerones al limón (fried anchovies with lemon) before moving on to ebony-hued vermouth at the Almacén del Indiano and wraps of pil pil prawns at Uvedoble restaurant.
Address: Mercado Central de Atarazanas, C. Atarazanas, 10, 29005 Málaga
Website: visita.malaga.eu
La Cosmo
In November 2022, Dani Carnero won his first Michelin star for Kaleja, a gastronomic restaurant in Málaga’s Jewish quarter that honors the tradition of cooking over embers. A local chef, Carnero trained with Martín Berasategui, Ferran Adrià and Manolo de la Osa before opening La Cosmopolita, also in the historical center. His newest restaurant, La Cosmo, is fun and informal. When he’s not at Kaleja, diners get a front-row view of the chef directing the flow of dishes, from his own take on ensalada rusa (with hake) to conchas finas (giant clams).
Address: La Cosmo, C. Císter, 11, 29015 Málaga
Website: lacosmo.es
Jose Carlos Garcia Restaurante
Málaga’s other Michelin-starred chef, José Carlos García, grew up in Rincón de la Victoria, the fishing village to the east of El Palo, and made his name at Café de Paris, a café turned restaurant opened by his dad in La Malagueta, just behind the beach. “My father found me in the kitchen in an apron when I was 11,” he says. “I was supposed to be waiting tables.” After traveling to hone his craft, García launched his eponymous restaurant in 2011, serving ever-changing tasting menus of 18 to 21 dishes in an all-glass building overlooking the yachts in Muelle Uno dock, right beside the 18th-century sailors’ chapel. The food is a similar mix of traditional and cutting-edge.
Address: Restaurante José Carlos García, Puerto de Málaga, Plaza de la Capilla, 1, 29016 Málaga
Website: restaurantejcg.com
La Terraza de San Juan
In a city known for rooftop drinking, the sharply contemporary Terraza de San Juan at the Hotel Málaga Premium remains a favorite, with the tower of the neighboring church almost close enough to touch. On our visit, the house cocktail (rum and vanilla with orange, lime and passion fruit juices) was interrupted by wafts of frankincense and clamor on the street below, where 100 men in black were carrying a Virgen through the night, the gilded figure flickering in the candlelight. This was the traslado of Our Lady of Los Remedios from the cathedral, a yearly tradition that dates from the 16th century.
Address: San Juan Terrace, C. San Juan, 11, 29005 Málaga
Website: hotelmalagapremium.com
El Pimpi
This Málaga institution was once the stables of the Palacio de Buenavisita, and is part-owned by Antonio Banderas. With a labyrinth of dining rooms, photographs of celebrity guests, and wine barrels signed by Paloma Picasso and the like, it’s a great place for people-watching—locals as well as tourists. Lunch is a steady stream of traditional tapas, including pil pil prawn croquettes and giant clams, followed by a digestif of sweet, dark Málaga Virgen wine.
Address: El Pimpi, C. Granada, 62, 29015 Málaga
Website: elpimpi.com
The best museums in Málaga
Art la Casa Amarilla
David Burbano founded this cultural association and gallery in 2008 to promote fellow local creatives. It now supports about 70, including Lalone, an award-winning graffiti artist active in Lagunillas, where street art remains an act of protest. Running the gallery with Burbano is artistic director Roy Laguna, who says there’s a line for both the monthly exhibitions and the studio spaces. Other names to watch include Jesús Azuaga, a.k.a. Le Petit Kaiser, and Irene Molina, an avant-garde multimedia artist who explores the real and virtual worlds.
Address: La Casa Amarilla Málaga, C. Santos, 7, 29005 Málaga
Website: lacasa-amarilla.es
Centro de Arte Contemporaneo
In the area now known as the “Soho art district,” the CAC stages temporary exhibitions and displays of its permanent collections Neighbors (works by local artists) and Passion (big-name pieces on loan from patron of the arts Carmen Riera). Under its former director, Fernando Francés, the CAC was the initiator of MAUS (Málaga Arte Urbano Soho), the street-art project that helped regenerate the district with murals by international artists DALeast, Roa, Faith47, and Shepard Fairey, as well as Málagan Dadi Dreucol.
Address: CAC Málaga, C. Alemania, S/N, 29001 Málaga
Website: cacmalaga.eu
Picasso Museum Málaga
This prestigious museum was born around a collection of 155 unsigned works donated by Christine and Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, the widow and youngest child of Picasso’s son Paulo. It has since grown to 233 pieces, created up until the artist’s 90th year, when he was “experimenting with surprising ways of representing the vigour and magic of life,” as artistic director José Lebrero Stals puts it. As part of this year’s global expo Picasso Celebration 1973–2023, the museum is presenting two of its Dialogues with Picasso: one focusing on his sculpture and another about his influence on contemporary artists.
Address: Picasso Museum Málaga, Palacio de Buenavista, C. San Agustín, 8, 29015 Málaga
Website: museopicassomalaga.org
Museo de Málaga
A vast space that brings together the province’s collections of archaeology (15,000 pieces) and fine art (2,000 pieces), and has a lovely terrace overlooking the Parque de Málaga. It opened in 2016 in the Palacio de la Aduana, a neoclassical building with a porticoed central patio. On show are archaeological finds from Málaga’s Phoenician, Roman, and Moorish periods and paintings produced between the 16th and 20th centuries, particularly in the 19th. Works include Bernardo Ferrandiz’s 1870 Allegory of the History, Industry and Commerce of Málaga, pieces by Enrique Simonet (whose The Beheading of Saint Paul is in the cathedral) and The Old Man With the Blanket by Picasso, painted when the artist was 14.
Address: Museo de Málaga, Plaza de la Aduana, 29015 Málaga
Website: museosdeandalucia.es
Museo Carmen Thyssen Malaga
Carmen Cervera, the fifth wife of Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, owns this collection of mainly 19th-century Spanish and Andalucían paintings. It’s located in a peaceful corner of the city center in a converted Renaissance palace and includes seascapes by Guillermo Gómez Gil, which capture the magical local light.
Address: Museo Carmen Thyssen Málaga, Plaza Carmen Thyssen, Calle Compañía, 29008 Málaga
Website: carmenthyssenmalaga.org
Museo Casa Natal Picasso
This brilliant little museum opens with Picasso’s preteen paintings, such as Port of Málaga (1888–1890), and explores his “Champagne baptism” into his father’s circle of artists, shedding light on his precocious talent and rebellious nature. Later sections focus on recurring themes in his art, from his lasting love of bullfighting to the classical mythology of the Mediterranean and the paloma, or dove. The latter was the preferred subject of his art teacher father, the name Picasso gave to his daughter and the emblem of the 1949 World Peace Congress in Paris.
Address: Museo Casa Natal de Picasso, Pl. de la Merced, 15, 29012 Málaga
Website: museocasanatalpicasso.malaga.eu